Modern hearing assistance devices, such as hearing aids, typically include digital electronics to enhance the wearer's listening experience. Hearing aids are electronic instruments worn in or around the ear that compensate for hearing losses by specially amplifying sound. Hearing aids use transducer and electro-mechanical components which are connected via wires to the hearing aid circuitry.
Hearing assistance devices often need to be accessed remotely for fitting and programming of the devices. Data such as configuration parameters and telemetry information can be downloaded and/or uploaded to the hearing assistance devices for the purpose of programming, control and data logging. However, existing standards for wired and wireless programming of hearing assistance devices use a “mailbox” approach for downloading and uploading information. A disadvantage of the “mailbox” approach is that a request/response loop is set up via a mailbox to access all hearing assistance device firmware parameters. This puts the burden of hearing assistance device reading and writing on the software application.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for remotely accessing hearing assistance devices.